


like real people do

by growlery



Series: Summer Pornathon 2015 [5]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Dubious Consent Due To Identity Issues, M/M, Team Gluttony, sharing vigilante duties
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-06
Updated: 2015-09-06
Packaged: 2018-04-17 10:41:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4663572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/growlery/pseuds/growlery
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gwen and Merlin take turns wearing the suit to protect their city, but when she comes back one night gravely injured, Merlin takes over her shifts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	like real people do

**Author's Note:**

> for summerpornathon week 5: switch! inspired by that excellent tumblr post about people sharing a superhero identity. the switch is also me switching it up and doing arthur/merlin (:O) though it's kind of cheating because it's actually arthur/gwen/merlin, but shhhh. title's from the song by hozier.

Gwen comes through the bathroom window after her watch, which is how Merlin knows it's bad. She only ever sneaks in when she's worried about a trail or when she's trying - unsuccessfully - to hide her injuries, and Merlin hasn't heard anything on their stolen police scanner that would suggest the former.

Sure enough, when he finds her, she's slowly bleeding out in their bath. She gives him a sheepish smile. He sighs.

"What happened?"

"They had Ar- Detective Pendragon. They were using him him as bait, or leverage, or something."

"He has got pretty obsessed with us." Merlin eyes her. "Judging by the state of you, you didn't just tell them he could rot in hell."

"It's not as bad as it looks," Gwen tells him, "I already took the bullet out and bandaged my arm."

"You were _shot_?"

"Only once! I'll be fine in the morning."

"Yeah, because you'll be in bed in the morning." Merlin perches on the edge of the bath, curling a hand around her shoulder to hold her still while he sews her up. Gwen doesn't say anything, because she's biting her lip through the pain, but her eyes speak for her. " _Yes_ , Gwen. You're not allowed to die on me, okay?"

Gwen exhales, sharp, then lets her head drop against Merlin's arm. "Okay."

*

Merlin's watch is a lot quieter than he was expecting. There's nothing exciting on the police radio, and when he scales the rooftops, he doesn't find much more than a familiar blonde head coming out of an alley.

Merlin grins. He drops down behind Arthur, enjoying a little too much the way it makes him jump.

"You," Arthur says, when he whirls around. "I saw you- you were shot."

Merlin does little jazz hands, says, "Superpowers."

He's still not used to how his voice sounds through the vocoder. It's actually pretty close to a normal human voice, but it doesn't sound anything like him, or even like Gwen.

"Right," Arthur says, instead of the retort Merlin was expecting. Arthur sounds... tired. Being kidnapped by violent criminals so they can get to the masked vigilante you've sworn to bring to justice probably does that to you. "Look, I'm only gonna say this once, but- you saved my life." Arthur exhales. "Thank you."

Merlin softens. "Just doing my job," he says, and Arthur makes an irritated noise, says, "It's _not_ your job," and Merlin laughs. That's more like it.

"You're right," he says, "it's yours. As is arresting me, which you haven't even tried to do yet."

"Free pass," Arthur says, "for the life-saving," and Merlin grins.

*

"You didn't tell me Arthur had started flirting with you."

"Has he?" Gwen looks innocent, but Merlin doesn't trust that face. "I hadn't noticed."

"He was definitely flirting with me," Merlin says, "and he thinks we're the same person, so."

They look nothing alike, normally, but once Merlin's shrunk down his bones and put on the suit, no one can tell the difference. Merlin knows this because Morgana keeps following them around to photograph them for her blog. She asked Merlin if he'd let her tape a GoPro to his head the other week, and she seemed genuinely disappointed when he just said, "Um," and then, "No, thanks?"

The point is, there are hundreds of pictures of them in the papers, thousands more online, and nobody has even thought to suggest that it's not always the same person.

"Weird," Gwen says, "could I get more toast, please?"

*

Merlin's not sure how it happens, exactly. One minute, he's fighting off more goons than he has fingers to count on and the next minute, he's coming to on a sofa that probably cost more than his and Gwen's whole flat, and Arthur is hovering above him.

Merlin's first thought is all panic, but his second thought is that they don't have expensive sofas in jail. Third: his mask is still covering his face.

(Fourth: Gwen is going to give him so much shit when he gets home.)

"Wha-" he says, blurry, and Arthur's pushing him back down before he really has a chance to get up.

"Are you trying to kill yourself? Because you're doing a stellar job, lately."

"Says you," Merlin mumbles, "I'm still not arrested."

"Free pass," Arthur says, soft, and Merlin doesn't think, just slides his hands up the arms that are still braced on his chest and pulls Arthur down.

It's a weird slide, their bodies together, not exactly smooth or comfortable, because Arthur's fully-clothed and Merlin's in his battered suit and can't really feel much except pain. It's the good kind, though, that draws little gasps out of him with every movement, every wound and bruise sparking hot white under his skin. Arthur is touching Merlin so gently, like he's scared of hurting him. Merlin's not sure he can make words for the way he wants Arthur to clutch him tight, dig his nails into Merlin's suit, rut into him until one of them comes, or Merlin passes out again.

It turns out not to matter; Arthur grazes the shallow gash on Merlin's stomach, and that coupled with the steady friction around Merlin's crotch sends him over the edge. Merlin exhales, ragged, and promptly passes out.


End file.
